


To Know More of You

by HMS_Chill



Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: 5+1 Things, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, I'm Sorry, M/M, Marriage Proposal, cursed phrases, just some good old fashioned cursed content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:40:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26906764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HMS_Chill/pseuds/HMS_Chill
Summary: Five times Henry threatened to divorce Alex, and one time he did the opposite(no angst just alex being a shit)
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor
Comments: 47
Kudos: 256





	1. Chapter 1

Alex expected to fall in love with a lot of things when he and Henry moved in together. He expected to fall even more in love with watching Henry get ready in the morning, or with the way he looks in Alex’s clothes. Alex expected to fall in love with Henry’s excitement about learning new things, or the face he makes when he’s playing a board game. But what Alex didn’t expect to fall in love with is the way Henry reacts to certain phrases. They’re nearly all things he’s picked up from Nora, but he’s found a special joy in hearing Henry react, watching him be incredulous as he tries to piece together what exactly things mean. And, as much as Henry May hate it, it’s something Alex absolutely loves. 

In his defense, it starts on accident. It’s been a long day, and he’s just leaving the library when Henry calls to confirm their dinner plans. Alex is half distracted getting into the car as he says, “Yeah, so if you wouldn’t mind preheating the oven and putting the potato toddlers in, I’ll finish things up when I get there.” 

He’s not entirely focused on his phone conversation, but he’s pretty sure he hears Henry mutter something that ends in “fuck”. He’s not sure; it’s been a long day of studying and his brain is fried. Still, this might be an opportunity to mess with Henry, and that never gets old.

“I’m sorry, the _what_?” Henry asks, and Alex grins. 

“The potato toddlers. I think they need it at 425; the packet’s in the freezer and it should say on the back.” 

“Alex, do you mean the... tater tots?”

“Yeah; the potato toddlers. I thought you studied English in college; shouldn’t you know this?”

“What time did you say you’ll be home?”

“About half an hour, why?”

“Shaan should have the divorce papers drawn up by then. I’ll let you have custody of the, um, toddlers.”

“Well, if you divorce me, you can make your own dinner tonight. I’m going to be enjoying some nice potato toddlers in a nice breakfast-for-dinner burrito, and if you divorce me I’m taking it all. I’m a lawyer; I’ll skew the papers my way.”

“Well you’ll have to get here first,” Henry says, and under that joking tone is an affection so genuine that Alex has to remind himself to breathe. It’s only been a day, but he missed Henry, too. He wonders vaguely how they’ll cope when they have to be apart longer, then decides not to think about that for now.

“As soon as I can, baby. I’m coming.” 

—

He doesn’t exactly plan on doing it again. But it’s late when Henry comes into his office, and Alex coughs at just the wrong time. He’s been fighting a cold all week, and he’s trying to hide it, but just as he recovers from his coughing fit, he feels arms slide around his shoulders. Henry leans in to kiss his cheek, and Alex smiles in spite of himself. 

“Hi, love. You feeling alright?” 

“I’m fine; just a sore throat.”

“I’ll make you some tea and honey,” Henry says, “But I think... of you can, I’d like to bring it to you in bed. It’s getting late.” 

Alex agrees. He can’t say ‘no’ to Henry, and it is late. So he gets ready, and he’s in bed when Henry comes into their room, a mug in his hand. He smiles, and the whole thing is so fucking domestic that if he doesn’t ruin it, Alex thinks he might explode.

“Does it have bee sauce?” 

“Does it have... yes, it has honey in it to help your throat. I’m going to divorce you.”

“Not now. Too tired,” Alex says, and now that he’s finally back in bed, he feels it. He hadn’t realized how heavy his body feels suddenly, and the places where he’s sore from sitting all day are already starting to stretch out. Henry runs a hand through his hair, and Alex leans toward it, closing his eyes as he does and just letting Henry’s closeness wash over him. 

“Drink your tea, then get some rest, love. The world will still need saving when you wake up.” 

Alex grabs Henry’s wrist, and when he opens his eyes, Henry is smiling just a bit. 

“If I don’t let go you can’t get divorce papers,” Alex says, and Henry laughs. 

“You’re ridiculous, and I adore you.” 

“Stay? It’s too big here for just me.” David whines, and Alex smiles in spite of himself. “Too big for just me and David.” 

“Of course, Love. Let me get changed.” 

Alex tries to stay awake, he does. But he’s more tired than he’d realized, and as he drinks the tea, his eyes close automatically. He’s nearly asleep When he feels the bed dip, and he barely has time to roll over and cuddle Henry close before he’s out for the night.

—

From there, the divorce threats become, if not normal, at least regular. They’re never taken seriously, but before long, Alex is out of phrases to earn them. He starts to miss the way Henry will roll his eyes, or the fond exasperation in his tone. He has a weekend trip to Denver to help Raf‘s campaign coming up, though, and he can’t wait to find something out there. 

He was right to hope. Raf is just as much of a shit as he is, and they’d spent a night lying on the floor of his office laughing together, brainstorming awful ways for Alex to talk to his boyfriend. It felt eerily similar to their first summer together, and Alex couldn’t be happier on all counts. Plus, now, he has a whole fleet of cursed phrases ready to go. 

He gets home late to find Henry asleep on the couch, and there’s not much time to talk while they move from the living room to their bed. But the next morning when Henry comes into the kitchen to wrap him in a hug, he sees his opportunity. He’s adding the milk to his coffee, and after kissing Henry’s cheek as a good morning, he unleashes a double whammy.

“Aw, hell yeah, cow juice. I’ve had enough nut juice to ruin the dairy industry twice over.”

“As soon as I’m awake, I’m divorcing you.” 

Alex’s reply is cut off by a yawn, followed almost immediately by a kiss that’s all morning breath. He complains, but still leans up for another as Henry smiles. 

“That’s not the kiss of a soon-to-be divorcee,” Alex says, and Henry just laughs, a laugh that fills Alex up with more warmth than his coffee ever could. 

"I hate you," Henry mumbles, resting his head on top of Alex's for a moment. "But I'm glad you're home."

"Me too."

-

They're eating breakfast together when David comes down the stairs. He was mostly asleep when Alex got home last night, so when he sees him leaning against the counter drinking coffee, he makes a beeline. His tongue is out as he hops up on Alex's leg to cover his hands with slobber, and when Alex kneels down with a laugh, David moves to licking his face.

"Hey, David. How's my favorite furry offspring, hmm? How are you?"

"You're not getting custody if you call him that. I'll divorce you and take him back to London," Henry says, not even looking at them as he scrapes the last of the yogurt out of a container. 

"He's just my little furry boy, yes he is," Alex says, and he's so focused on David that he doesn't notice Henry throwing his empty carton until it hits him on the forehead. He looks up to see Henry just turning to the sink, not quite quickly enough to hide his smile. "He can't eat that! He's going to get sick. Are you trying to hurt our gorgeous furry son? Henry, you’re his father! You can’t poison your son!"

"Oh, shut up," Henry says, though there's no weight to it. He undermines it even further by coming over to kneel on the ground with them, kissing Alex and rubbing David's ears until he shakes. When they sit, David manages to climb into both their laps at once, and any plans for divorce are put on hold immediately.

-

Nora's there the next time it happens, and that only eggs Alex on. They're gathered in the boys' living room for a game night, and when Henry sits down beside Alex, both his knees pop. He grunts a bit, but Alex just grins.

"Aww, babe, hear that? Your skeleton's getting ready to hatch," he says, dropping a kiss onto Henry's knee before looking up at him with a smile. Nora's laughing, but Henry just looks a bit worried.

"Alex, love, do you really want to have to draw up divorce papers in front of Nora? Because I’ll divorce you, but I don’t want you to be embarrassed in front of your ex." Nora’s cackling by now, and Henry's grinning in spite of himself. Alex kisses his nose, and Henry just shakes his head, smiling. "We really need to invest more in keeping you two apart; I’m not sure I like whatever this is becoming.” 

“Chaos is indivisible,” Nora says, and Alex grins, bumping his fist against hers across the coffee table. Henry just rolls his eyes at them both, and Nora laughs as he finally cracks a smile at them both, trying and failing to hide it behind the rule book on the table.


	2. Chapter 2

Henry expected to fall in love with a lot of new things when he and Alex moved in together. He thought maybe he’d fall deeper in love with Alex’s bed head, or that he’d fall in love with little things Alex does while he’s cooking or getting ready for bed. What he hadn’t expected to fall in love with is Alex’s voice. 

The thing is, he thought he knew what Alex sounded like. He thought for sure he knew every facet of Alex’s voice, thought he’d heard its every mood and tick. But then, he’s waking Alex up to convince him to move from the couch to their bed, and a husky Texas drawl complains that if he’s comfortable here, he shouldn’t have to move. 

And, well. Henry feels his heart skip a beat. Alex keeps mumbling the whole way to their room, and when they get into bed, he pulls Henry close, and that tired, warm drawl says, “I love you.”

Henry smiles, the warmth of Alex’s voice pooling in his stomach and spreading through him like a good whiskey. From that moment on, it becomes his goal to coax that drawl out whenever he can. He finds hints of it in Alex’s normal speech, even as he tries to hide it. It slips through in his perfect pronunciation of “y’all’ll” and the long vowels when he’s ready to leave an event. 

The first time Alex calls him “baby” without trying to mask his accent, the word lingering in the back of his throat just a moment longer than normal, its vowels rounded and its b’s softer, Henry all but melts. They’re at the lake house, just the two of them, and Alex is teaching him to make an omelette. He hadn’t even said anything particularly exciting, just “that’s really good, baby,” but Henry leans back against him with a sigh, more in love than ever.

“I love your voice,” he says, and Alex pulls him close. 

“You like this? It’s not below your posh tastes?”

“I love it. It’s... it feels nice. It’s more you.”

“Well shucks, Honeybuns—“

“No, no, do _not_ —“

“If I’d known you liked it when I put on the rootinest, tootinest Texas drawl this side of the Mississippi—“

“I’m going to divorce you,” Henry says, though he’s laughing too much for it to have much weight behind the threat.

“Can’t go puttin the cart before the horse now; you’ll have’ta marry me first,” Alex says. 

And suddenly, Henry thinks of the ring box in his bag, and he sees the sparkle in Alex’s eye, the way he’s so happy and relaxed out here, and it all just feels right. He moves the omelette off the heat, takes a deep breath, and says, “Yes, well, about that.” 

He gets down on one knee, and Alex gets so still it’s almost scary. “Alex Claremont-Diaz, you are... god—“

“Yes. Yes, Hen, I—“

“Shut up, you git, I haven’t asked yet. I can still divorce you.” Alex does go quiet, but the smile is plastered on his face. Henry takes a deep breath, then starts again. “Alex, I... I really should have thought about this part and what I was going to say before right now, but I’m looking at you, and you... you’re everything. And I love you. I love that our wild lives brought us together. I love that you pulled me into a cake all those years ago. I love that you’re patient with me when I burn food and turn our laundry pink. I love coming home to you every night, and I love when you call me baby, but I... I’d like it better if you could call me your husband. Alexander Gabriel Claremont-Diaz, will you marry me?”

Alex is hauling him to his feet and kissing him as soon as he gets the question out, and he’s crying, but he’s also laughing. They’re both a mess of tears and smiles and a sort of breathless laughter. 

“Is that a yes?” Henry asks, and Alex nods into his shoulder. “I... I left the ring in our room if you’ll give me a moment.”

“Like hell I’m letting go of you,” Alex says, and Henry laughs, guiding him back to the room. Alex only lets go when he bends down to rummage through his bag, finding it relatively quickly. He stays down on one knee to offer it to Alex, who pulls him to his feet so they can admire it together. It’s a simple band, the only decoration a wood inlay and an inscription inside. 

“It’s... this is maybe a bit much, but it’s linden wood. It’s meant to be a holy tree, one of protection and... and honestly. Old Germanic tradition said it was impossible to lie under one, so they’d get married there. And it... there’s one in the White House garden where I kissed you.” 

“Fuck, H, I... I love you so fucking much,” Alex says softly. “I love it, too; I... Thank you. It’s perfect.” 

“I love you, and I want to be your husband. I really, really want to be your husband.” 

“Me, too. But I’ll settle for being your fiancé for now. After all; can’t divorce a fiancé.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You ever just think about accents, and that Alex and Henry have drastically different ones, and that Alex probably tries to hide his in public so he seems smarter/more professional? And just... have a lot of emotions about the judgements people make based on accents?  
> \--  
> As always, I'm [HMS-Chill](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/hms-chill) on tumblr for fic stuff, and I'd love to chat either there or here. Thanks y'all!

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to Saltitandburnit because I made her workshop cursed phrases with me just for this. Also, I'm sorry.  
> (bonus also, the title is from one of Alex's emails, p.243)  
> -  
> As always, I'm [HMS-Chill](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/hms-chill) on tumblr for fic stuff, and I'd love to chat either there or here. Thanks y'all!


End file.
